At Google HQ, California Governor Legalizes Self-Driving Cars

California on Tuesday became the third state to effectively legalize self-driving car technology, which Google and many automakers are developing.

At a ceremony at Google’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that directs the state’s department of motor vehicles to develop safety regulations for the testing and operation of self-driving vehicles.

“Today we’re looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow’s reality,” he said at the ceremony, flanked by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Nevada and Florida have passed similar bills.

Mr. Brin, who donned a “Google Glass” device on his face at the event, reiterated comments by other Google executives that the company is looking to strike a partnership with automakers to produce a self-driving car that relies on Google’s software.

Mr. Brin added that he believed “you can count on one hand the number of years before ordinary people” will be driving autonomous vehicles.

He said that Google’s fleet of autonomous cars – mainly Toyota Prius vehicles that were modified by the Internet giant – have driven 50,000 miles without “intervention” from a human operator. They’ve driven more than 300,000 miles with some human assistance, he said.

Mr. Brin added that a “broader subset” of Google employees will begin testing Google’s self-driving technology by the end of the year.

When a reporter asked who would get a traffic ticket if a self-driving car runs a red light, Mr. Brin responded wryly that “self-driving cars don’t run red lights,” evoking laughter from his colleagues in attendance.

Another reporter asked Mr. Brown to respond to the notion that the California Highway Patrol is “skittish” about self-driving cars. His response: “They’ll get over it.”

In most states, autonomous vehicles are neither prohibited nor permitted—a key reason why Google’s fleet of autonomous cars secretly drove more than 100,000 miles on the road before the company announced the high-profile initiative in fall 2010.